Elephantidae
“Elephantidae” is the family-level category of proboscideans that includes the living elephants of Africa and Asia, extinct relatives assigned to various elephant genera, and their extinct close relatives assigned to the genus Mammuthus, to which all species of mammoths are assigned. Mammoth taxonomy is complex and not fully resolved, but North American mammoths include the Columbian mammoth (M. columbi), the woolly mammoth (M. primigenius), and intermediate forms sometimes assigned to the species M. jeffersonii and that have been recently interpreted as hybrids between Columbian and woolly mammoths.
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Loxodonta
The genus Loxodonta includes both species of modern African elephants.
“Lyuba”
The specimen nicknamed “Lyuba” was recovered on the Yamal Peninsula (Russian Federation) in 2007. This is one of the most complete and best preserved woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) in the world. Lyuba was only about one month old at the time of her death, and she lived about 42000 years ago. The surface model seen here was produced using CT scan data obtained by the Ford Motor Company’s Nondestructive Evaluation Laboratory. See Fisher et al. (2012) and Rountrey et al. (2012) for additional information.
Riley mammoth
This specimen of M. jeffersonii was discovered in 2009 by an employee of the Riley family on their property near Saranac, Michigan. It was excavated in 2010 by the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology and has been under study since that time. Although not an especially complete specimen, it shows important evidence of human association and will figure in analyses currently in preparation.
Ziegler Reservoir mammoths
The Ziegler Reservoir site near Snowmass Village, Colorado produced thousands of skeletal elements from large Pleistocene mammals, including the remains of mammoths.